Malachi 2:13

"And this again ye do; ye cover the altar of Jehovah with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, neither receiveth it with good will at your hands."

"This again ye do ..." Although some uncertainty attaches to this, it would appear to indicate that the people not only had failed to heed the former prohibitions against such foreign marriages so vigorously enforced by Ezra and Nehemiah, plunging headlong in to more and more of these; but the word "again" might also indicate "that some of the people who had reformed under Ezra had relapsed into the same sin again."[20]

"Cover the altar ... with tears ..." There are two possible meanings of this. The people, finding their offerings not accepted by the Lord, added tearful displays to their sacrifices, but still refused to reform. This is objected to on the grounds that the people did not have access to the altar. Therefore, some suppose that the priests were the ones weeping, but that also seems to be utterly out of keeping with the view of that priesthood in this prophecy. "The Targum," followed by Jerome, inferred that it was the deserted wives who were weeping. Baldwin objected to this "Because they had not been mentioned."[21] However, we agree with Hailey that, "The expression is a metaphor in which the rejected wives were covering the altar with their tears."[22]